]]>Comment on Elder Financial Abuse: Signs, Symptoms and Preventive Measures by Susan Vincenthttp://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2016/04/21/elder-financial-abuse-signs-symptoms-and-preventive-measures/#comment-4682773
Thu, 08 Dec 2016 20:22:00 +0000http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/?p=218573#comment-4682773My father, who had dementia, saved every piece of junk mail he had for years. Psychics, extreme right wing organizations, and more sent him massive amounts of mail because he gave to them.

He firmly believed these people were doing good things for him. When we moved him out of his room in the assisted living facility to a dementia unit, we literally hauled away big black trash bags full of mail.

We joke about it now but it affected us all very deeply.

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]]>Comment on How Much to Save for Retirement in My 30s? (And Other Burning Questions) by Centsaihttp://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2015/04/01/money-mistakes-in-your-30s/#comment-4682771
Thu, 08 Dec 2016 17:46:00 +0000http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/?p=187075#comment-4682771This was a great post! All of the potential money mistakes you listed are spot on!

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]]>Comment on How Much to Save for Retirement in My 30s? (And Other Burning Questions) by LThttp://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2015/04/01/money-mistakes-in-your-30s/#comment-4682769
Wed, 07 Dec 2016 17:25:00 +0000http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/?p=187075#comment-4682769I would add, “consider the true costs of having children and the alternative of not having them and how it will contribute to your lifelong financial goals.”

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]]>Comment on Cutting grocery bills: Aldi and bulk-food stores by James Weinerhttp://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2014/04/21/cutting-grocery-bills-aldi-and-bulk-food-stores/#comment-4682767
Wed, 07 Dec 2016 15:18:00 +0000http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/?p=171827#comment-4682767It may have been a while since the writer actually wrote this article. Aldi does accept credit cards as well as debit cards. It also has Greek Yogurt. I have personally not noticed any major difference between Aldi food and brand name stuff. In fact, in some cases, their product is actually better than the name brand. I am totally sold on this place. As a single person, the ability to buy two weeks worth of essentials including fresh meat and veggies for under 80 dollars is great. I can’t praise them enough.

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]]>Comment on Ask the Readers: How to Help a Homeless Friend? by YepItsMehttp://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2011/12/09/ask-the-readers-how-to-help-a-homeless-friend/#comment-4682765
Wed, 07 Dec 2016 02:10:00 +0000http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/?p=114192#comment-4682765In today’s world, I think there should be homeless villages (with a different name). Build a community of “tiny homes” that house various people. Maybe half could go to people who can afford the full price right off the bat. All would have to apply for these homes, and being homeless would not necessarily get you in. There are certain guidelines right now that allow some men to stay long-term in a homeless shelter. Use those rules, if someone on the list remains doing well for, say, six months in the shelter, they get to move to the tiny homes. There are monthly inspections to be sure there are no drugs, broken fixtures (unless they’ve contacted management), etc., BUT they gradually pay for the home they’re living in, until they are finally paying full price. These homes could be potentially built very inexpensively but nicely – great insulation, etc – so the homes are eventually paid off. But in the beginning, each month the price goes up, based on income. I’ll leave it to the leaders to figure it all out, but do you think it makes sense? They could have some sort of common grounds — like, a community garden that everyone must participate in somehow or another, but they also all share.

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]]>Comment on The Savers Tax Credit Explained by Get Rich Slowlyhttp://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2016/11/02/savers-tax-credit-explained/#comment-4682757
Tue, 06 Dec 2016 19:42:00 +0000http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/?p=231837#comment-4682757Hi Lisa, thank you for stopping by! The credit is based on your earned income, not work status, so as long as you were below the $61,500 upper limit of the credit for married filing jointly, yes, you could claim it. Of course, always double check with a tax professional.

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]]>Comment on The Savers Tax Credit Explained by Get Rich Slowlyhttp://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2016/11/02/savers-tax-credit-explained/#comment-4682755
Tue, 06 Dec 2016 19:40:00 +0000http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/?p=231837#comment-4682755Thank you for stopping by! Yes, that hypothetical example is on the extreme end given the cost of living today, but what I found interesting is that the final “cost” with the tax credit was $500 for $1,000 worth of retirement savings. When you add in the power of compound interest, it’s probably the smartest $500 investment one could ever make. It would be hard to come up with the $1,000 on $35,000 annual salary no question, but the good news is the credit goes up to $61,500 (at least a percentage). Maybe in the future the tax code will do more incentives like this and for a wider pool of incomes.

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]]>Comment on Reader Story: I bought a foreclosure house on the courthouse steps by jerryhttp://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2013/07/21/reader-story-i-bought-foreclosure-on-courthouse-steps/#comment-4682753
Tue, 06 Dec 2016 17:30:00 +0000http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/?p=164111#comment-4682753Can anyone answer this question? If the bank that originally held the loan on the home was far west federal, then when the Sheriff’s sale is announced, the U.S. bank is now the holder of the loan
. Did the U.S. bank buy the loan at a discounted price and can that mean the opening bid be less than what was originally owed?

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]]>Comment on The Savers Tax Credit Explained by Lisahttp://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2016/11/02/savers-tax-credit-explained/#comment-4682751
Tue, 06 Dec 2016 17:07:00 +0000http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/?p=231837#comment-4682751We’re married, filing jointly. One of us is a full time student, but the other is not. Would this tax credit apply? Thanks!

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]]>Comment on The Savers Tax Credit Explained by ambiguatorhttp://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2016/11/02/savers-tax-credit-explained/#comment-4682749
Tue, 06 Dec 2016 16:27:00 +0000http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/?p=231837#comment-4682749Who the hell makes $35000 and can afford to put $1000 into an IRA?!?!?
That’s nearly 3% of AGI.
Probably closer to 5% of after-tax income.

Thank you for the info GRS, but this credit seems like a cruel joke.

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]]>Comment on How to Dispute Your Mechanic Bill by Valerie Molinarhttp://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2011/06/09/how-to-dispute-your-mechanic-bill/#comment-4682747
Tue, 06 Dec 2016 07:39:00 +0000http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/?p=86872#comment-4682747If I payed $1000. plus to repair my rx300, after two months, I drove it two days & my motor locked. Is it not if all atleast half of the bill to be refunded? Any advise?

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]]>Comment on Best Budget Apps 2016-2017: Mint by Christi Juliahttp://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2016/11/14/best-budget-apps-2016-2017-mint/#comment-4682745
Tue, 06 Dec 2016 06:13:00 +0000http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/?p=233089#comment-4682745Just discovered a new app, Daily Budget Calculator. It’s an IOS only
app, but it is the most intuitive and simple personal finance app I’ve
ever come across. I was skeptical about the price tag, but now I use it
every day…

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]]>Comment on Reader Story: How I Built My Own House — Without a Mortgage by Entreprendedorahttp://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2011/05/22/reader-story-how-i-built-my-house-without-a-mortgage/#comment-4682743
Mon, 05 Dec 2016 22:06:00 +0000http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/?p=81932#comment-4682743this is a very good story JD and discussion, I built 2 years ago and I wanted to build again but this time debt free, I need help, suggestions resources. feel free to connect with me

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]]>Comment on I Quit My Job — What Should I Do With My 401k? by Get Rich Slowlyhttp://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2008/04/23/i-quit-my-job-what-should-i-do-with-my-401k/#comment-4682739
Mon, 05 Dec 2016 19:04:00 +0000http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/?p=1752#comment-4682739Hi Rich,
The first step here is to call or email the company that handled your 401(k) account (for example, Fidelity) to retrieve your log-in information, or, if you don’t remember, call the HR department of your former company and ask them. They will help you. Once you have access to whatever account hosted the 401(k) you can see your balance and then plan next steps. Here’s a post that might help with that step. Let us know how it turns out! http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2011/02/08/what-to-do-with-an-old-401k/

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]]>Comment on Should You Pay Off Your Mortgage Early? by cogsboyhttp://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2010/12/01/should-you-pay-off-your-mortgage-early/#comment-4682737
Mon, 05 Dec 2016 18:22:00 +0000http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/?p=56122#comment-4682737I’m offering my 2 cents on this issue. My wife and I have recently paid off our house 11.5 years after we purchased our home. We’re both firm believers of paying off debts as soon as possible. Over time as our careers moved forward and our incomes significantly increased, we realized that our incomes were too high to enjoy the benefit of itemized deductions from the interest payments to our house. The extra income we were saving was literally burning a hole in our pockets and we were not very confident with the financial markets to risk putting our money into.

In 2011, we decided to pursue a 5-year plan to pay off our house. Our mortgage was on a 1-year ARM with 2.25% above the LIBOR rate. Fortunately, interest rates were very low but refinancing would have resulting in a higher interest rate than just paying the 2.25% above LIBOR. Therefore, we took the chance and bet that the LIBOR rate would stay pretty low for a few years while we paid off the principal, and it did. Between 2011 and 2016, our interest rate ranged from 2.875% to 3.25%, which allowed us to pay between $2200 and $3000 per month in additional principal.

Yes, we could have put our money in the market which did pretty well during that time; however, it was mainly about financial security. We both wanted some sense of stability after seeing many of our friends go through some hardship during the financial crisis. We got dinged as well with the real estate market crashing and our belief is that it’s better to have your own island during financial, political, and social volatility, than to treat your home as an asset of which positive light is shed upon only during the “good times”.

During this process, we didn’t lose sight of other financial goals, such as retirement, savings, and living within our means. Our cars were paid off, we had a healthy savings amount in the event of an emergency, and our retirement accounts were doing OK considering the financial situation after the great recession. We’re both 46 years old and it feels like a huge weight off our shoulders to pay off the mortgage. Nonetheless, we’ll probably buy another home in the next few years and possibly rent out our current home with a greater positive cash flow without the reliance of others to pay off its mortgage.

In the end, there’s no greater feeling than paying off debt, albeit even if it’s for a few years before some other expensive purchase, such as a home, renovations, cars, etc. is considered.

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]]>Comment on How Much to Save for Retirement in My 30s? (And Other Burning Questions) by Blakehttp://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2015/04/01/money-mistakes-in-your-30s/#comment-4682735
Sun, 04 Dec 2016 22:45:00 +0000http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/?p=187075#comment-4682735I don’t think those moving costs are going to come any where near the costs of paying higher taxes, utilities, furnishings…etc for a house that is sized for what you will want 10-20 years from when you purchased it.

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]]>Comment on Why I plan on driving my car into the ground by Aralhttp://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2013/04/11/why-i-plan-on-driving-my-car-into-the-ground/#comment-4682733
Sun, 04 Dec 2016 16:49:00 +0000http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/?p=162849#comment-4682733Even if the estimated maintenance/repair bill of old clunker for a period of time is relatively lower than a new car payment for the same period, it doesn’t automatically guarantee that you can save money by keeping the old chunkers. (And you shouldn’t compare it like that if you’re not on 120 mo. 0% APR finance)
Let’s say you’re driving total of 60 years in your life. If you buy a compact sedan every 10 years, you’ll need 6 cars. If you pay more maintenance bill to get it rolling until it hits 15 years, you can buy two less cars and done with it. But it doesn’t make you saving two car worth of money.

Because if you prolong the ownership period of each vehicle by 5 years, there is 99% chance that you’ll spend more on maintenance. Let’s say the brokedown repair cost is average of $100/mo for the 10-15 years old vehicle. That’s total $6,000 and you’re gonna spend $6,000 for every vehicle. So that’s $24,000 for four vehicle. Already one new car worth of saving is gone. I think $100/mo repair is nothing close to extreme for 10-15 years old vehicle but even at $30/mo repair cost (I think this must be extreme case lean toward high reliability), You’ll lose one third car worth of saving.

And you’re gonna get lesser money when you’re selling out your old car. You’re gonna get $3000 by selling the 10 years old compact sedan with 180,000 miles on it. In 60 years, you’re gonna get total of $18,000 from 6 trade-ins. However you can only get $500 from 15 years old compact sedan with 300,000 miles on it. That’s $2,000 for 60 years and there is another $16k difference.

Furthermore, you’ll need to buy more wearout parts, like a set of tires, changing oil 10-15 times and a full brake job. Because new car must be comes with new tire/brake and it usually comes with 3-5 years of free oil change (or at least some of them is free). That would be additional at least a couple of grand.

Also, the gas mileage would be different. In 2004, average passenger car gets 29.5 mpg. However, it’s 36.4 mpg in 2014. Average men aged 35-54 drives 18,858 miles per year. So if you drive just as long as average men aged 35-54, and keeping your 2004 bought vehicle to 2019, you’ll gonna burn total of 9,588 gal while if you buy new car in 2014, your total consumption would be 8,982 gal. There’s 606 gal difference and it would translated into $1-3k depending on the future gasoline price trend.

Thus, even at $100/mo repair cost(which is certainly lower than monthly payment of new car, even if it’s 120 month payments), you cannot save more than $4k for 60 years. And if you’re spending avg $116/mo on repair of 10-15 years old car, you’re basically driving an older car for no financial gain. (You can actually lose money if you’re spending more than $120/mo)

Lastly, total of $4k saving for 60 years is not a great deal. If you invest 4.42 cents per day and invest it for 4 percent interest, it’ll give you $4k in 60 years. You’re gonna endure the driving of clunker for 20 years, just for a saving of 4.42¢ per day. And those potential 4.42¢/day saving could be completely gone anyday by single major broke down (which didn’t included in $100/mo repair spending). And what you have to remember is that you’re gonna have to survive 4 times of repeated dice rolling of 10-15 years old car to turn those potential saving into real saving.

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]]>Comment on How to Find the Best CD Terms by Your Two Centshttp://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2016/11/08/find-best-cd-terms/#comment-4682721
Thu, 01 Dec 2016 13:10:00 +0000http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/?p=233045#comment-4682721You gloss over the real answer at the end: Capital One, Ally, and others offer 1%+ interest on savings accounts. Compounded monthly at 1%, your $10,000 savings would earn $512 interest over five years, easily outpacing the CDs’ $331, with no complicated “laddering” approach or liquidity restrictions required. Not to mention, in a rising interest rate environment, locking yourself into an illiquid fixed-rate investment seems ill-advised. So to answer your initial question, don’t bother: CDs aren’t worth it if you can put that money into a savings account paying the same or greater interest with no withdrawal restrictions.

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]]>Comment on 27 Frugal Uses for a Dead Phone Book by Asashi Fustazihttp://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2012/03/26/27-frugal-uses-for-a-dead-phone-book/#comment-4682719
Thu, 01 Dec 2016 00:14:00 +0000http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/?p=128182#comment-4682719You Guys wanna know one Frugal use, How about actual looking through it and finding who called you instead of getting the run around paid service crap online, that’s great isn’t it. let me pay intellius or some crap for something that took me 1 minute and find in a shake of a lambs tail. they were more usful then the internet HOWS THAT FOR FRUGAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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]]>Comment on Reader Story: Could crowd funding help this guy pay off his mortgage? by Patrick Loganhttp://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2014/08/03/crowd-funding-pay-off-mortgage/#comment-4682717
Wed, 30 Nov 2016 20:37:00 +0000http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/?p=174519#comment-4682717I can sympathize.I am a 52 year old disabled (I am a below knee amputee) healthcare clinician and executive who was injured at work and then let go. I had been gainfully employed as a Vice President locally for the last four years at a good salary. I have a family of four – my wife, daughter, and son. Last year I suffered two injuries to my cervical spine and hands at work. My employer would not pay for worker’s compensation or medical care and terminated me.
I had received treatment and spinal injections, but my doctors have decided the ultimate solution is spinal surgery to remove the pressure on the nerves in my neck. Unfortunately since my employer would not pay for my surgery and let me go from my job, I have been out of work for over 10 months. As you can imagine this has left me in an extremely poor financial position. I have ended up on Medicaid, but the positive of this is that it allowed me to have surgery on 10/26/16. ON 12/02/2016 I will see another surgeon regarding my hand. I am certain when I recover I can get a well-paying job, and begin paying my own mortgage again – if only given additional time.

I had overcome much in the past when given the chance, including the loss of my leg, two foster homes, and two children being born with congenital defects. I don’t bring these things up to ask for sympathy, only to show that I have faced hardships before and have always overcome them. As a below knee amputee athlete, I ran competitively against able-bodied runners and beat them. As a certified prosthetist/orthotist, for over 25 years I used those skills to help many others fulfill the potential they thought lost. I have taken many negatives and turned them into positives.

In my life I would just be thrilled to have my mortgage paid for but I don’t expect that. I would be thrilled if someone would consider provide a 0% interest loan to help me stay afloat before I lose everything. If I had help until I am able to work again I would gladly pay them back over time although it might take a while. I just don’t want my family and I to lose our home. I have dedicated my life to helping disabled people like myself. I want to do so again. My spinal surgery was successful and I believe that the issues with the tendons in my hand can also be resolved. I just need help to get back on my feet again. I certainly don’t judge this gentleman for asking for help and only hope there are people who are kind enough to help others in need.

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]]>Comment on How to Donate Your Body to Science by dashopaholichttp://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2012/01/30/how-to-donate-your-body-to-science/#comment-4682715
Wed, 30 Nov 2016 13:44:00 +0000http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/?p=120802#comment-4682715Foxma, while I understand why you’d want to do that, if the government catches her doing this, it is considered fraud, and they will put her in prison! Don’t do it! See if she can qualify for SSI on her own. While it isn’t much; it can help. Best wishes to you both!

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]]>Comment on Basic tips on tipping: How much and to whom? by Midna Midnahttp://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2006/10/12/basic-tips-on-tipping-how-much-and-to-whom/#comment-4682713
Wed, 30 Nov 2016 07:08:00 +0000http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2006/10/12/basic-tips-on-tipping-how-much-and-to-whom/#comment-4682713Wow, you guys sure like to tip a lot.

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]]>Comment on Why home prices are climbing again, and what you should do about it by Johnhttp://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2014/03/04/why-home-prices-are-climbing-again-and-what-you-should-do-about-it/#comment-4682711
Tue, 29 Nov 2016 19:42:00 +0000http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/?p=170165#comment-4682711My apartment complex was just bought by investors and now they are of course raining the rent sky high!!!!

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]]>Comment on Why home prices are climbing again, and what you should do about it by Johnhttp://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2014/03/04/why-home-prices-are-climbing-again-and-what-you-should-do-about-it/#comment-4682709
Tue, 29 Nov 2016 19:38:00 +0000http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/?p=170165#comment-4682709Houses in Dallas area a few years ago were around 100,000 to 130,000 for a regular house but now the minimum is 200,000. I am going to wait and see if the housing prices come down.

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]]>Comment on How Much to Save for Retirement by Lindahttp://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2016/11/14/how-much-to-save-for-retirement/#comment-4682707
Tue, 29 Nov 2016 06:17:00 +0000http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/?p=233191#comment-4682707It is always best to start saving early at the age of 20+ for retirement period. Save at least 10% of your income.

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]]>Comment on Friendships and Financial Inequality by Adrianna Holbrookhttp://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2012/08/29/friendships-and-financial-inequality/#comment-4682705
Tue, 29 Nov 2016 02:33:00 +0000http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/?p=144062#comment-4682705Yes, it has become an issue. A friend of mine and her husband are very well off financially and take huge vacations, throw their child Pinterest worthy birthday parties, etc. I’m a stay at home mom & my husband works 2 minimum wage jobs to keep us afloat. We’ve struggled so much. Anyway she would send my child gifts which I told her I didn’t expect, but I graciously accepted and thanked her for them. Well I got a message this morning saying she was deleting me because I never sent her son anything. Truth is, I had to scrimp and save to get my own child what she needed let alone give gifts to someone else’s child. If I’d known it was going to be a problem that I really couldn’t reciprocate, I wouldn’t have accepted gifts from her.

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]]>Comment on Finding the road out of poverty by Andyhttp://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2014/02/24/finding-the-road-out-of-poverty/#comment-4682701
Mon, 28 Nov 2016 17:22:00 +0000http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/?p=169759#comment-4682701I don’t understand the point of this article. Even if you have a job like Mc Donalds you will live in poverty. It’s like being in a sinking ship. You will never prosper. Teaching people to be poor is useless. That’s something globalization teaches. Only a few prosper.

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]]>Comment on Investing 101: How Bonds Work by silverhttp://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2009/04/21/investing-101-how-bonds-work/#comment-4682699
Sun, 27 Nov 2016 16:30:00 +0000http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/?p=3540#comment-4682699That’s great, cause then you know that 65% of your picks are winners!

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]]>Comment on Best Budget Apps 2016-2017: Level Money by Angelahttp://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2016/10/28/best-budget-apps-level-money/#comment-4682697
Sat, 26 Nov 2016 06:29:00 +0000http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/?p=230339#comment-4682697Just wanted to point out that I recently found a new personal finance app named Geltbox Money that eliminates the need for third party aggregation services.

Geltbox is a personal financial aggregator designed for homes and small businesses. Geltbox gives you a clear overview of your expenses, investments, loans and assets. It aims to help you plan your monthly savings and your investments. The ultimate goal is to help you reach financial security.

What makes Geltbox Money special and unique?

Geltbox Money lets you sync to any financial website in the world.

No need to use online financial aggregators, which are limited to certain financial institutions.

Record your own downloaders and have them run automatically in your device.